‘Oliver’s Universe’
interpreters Ruben Fulgencio, Maria Leon, Pedro Casablanc
Year 2021
premiere May 13, 2022
★★
Oliver’s Universe arrives as Alexis Morante takes a bold turn from documentary and musical profiles into fiction. The film builds a world where a long list of familiar struggles encounters a teenager’s inner life. It plays with ideas of originality by weaving in fantasy elements that bounce against a grounded, sometimes gritty reality. The result is a cinematic mix that invites both sympathy and scrutiny from audiences in Canada and the United States who follow contemporary Spanish cinema.
The central figure is Oliver, a quiet, inward boy whose days feel shaped by his father and the absence of a steady home life. His grandfather lives nearby, detached from the demands of work and responsibility, lost in a private daydream that mirrors the younger man’s own nocturnal habit of watching the stars. The family’s fragility becomes a lens for examining broader questions about belonging and stability, with Oliver and his mother bearing the weight of a household under pressure. The scene-setting is intimate yet expansive, emphasizing the emotional terrain of a family trying to survive disruption while clinging to small, hopeful rituals.
As the narrative unfolds, the family remains the only steady anchor in a world that seems increasingly bent by external strains. The film gathers a cast of characters who reveal the realities of modern life, including themes of racism, diversity, unemployment, eviction, debt, and the generational tension that can fracture a household. The director’s voice remains keenly observant, presenting life on the margins with a mixture of empathy and critical distance that encourages conversation about social issues without sacrificing the emotional core of Oliver’s story.
The plot introduces a key element that guides the drama forward, a symbolic talisman that appears within the course of a year marked by both personal and historical color. The action tapes through the mid-1980s, a period just before a notable celestial event, using the Halley’s Comet sighting as a temporal milestone. This symbolic device allows Oliver to momentarily escape the pressures of adulthood while keeping the audience aware that escape is never a true solution. The tone toggles between lighthearted humor and moments of quiet tragedy, creating a tonal contrast that many viewers will find both refreshing and haunting.
The film’s energy is buoyed by a brisk opening sequence that gives way to more reflective passages. It is in these shifts that Oliver’s journey gains depth, revealing a coming-of-age story wrapped in a social panorama. The interplay between fantasy and realism becomes a mode of resilience, showing how imagination can offer respite even when the surrounding world feels hostile or confusing. Morante’s approach invites comparisons to other contemporary European dramas that rely on intimate character studies to illuminate larger societal concerns.
Overall, Oliver’s Universe offers a thoughtful portrait of adolescence amid economic and cultural pressures. It proposes that personal growth can come from acknowledging complexity rather than denying it. For audiences seeking cinema that blends personal truth with broader social commentary, the film provides a memorable, if imperfect, exploration of family, identity, and the enduring question of what it means to belong.